Foodbank use goes up by 700% on Anglesey since 2012

Sandra Fisher-Holt of Communities first, Ynys Mon, with the new foodbank donation bins.

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Food items being handed out by a foodbank have risen by over 700% in a year.

Figures issued by Anglesey's Pantri Pobl which is run by Communities First, Citizens Advice Bureau and Barnardos show that this October they have seen a huge rise with 594 meals shared out with still over a week of the month left, compared with 72 for the whole month in 2012.

The Welfare Reform implemented by the Conservative led-Coalition government is being blamed for pushing more and more families over the edge into poverty.

Sandra Fisher-Holt CF Môn’s financial inclusion officer says that she has seen more claims made for help during the last three months, than the whole previous 18 months that Pantri Pobl has been operating.

Sandra said: “Need is so high.

“Figures show that in the last quarter we have handed out more food than in the whole 18 months before.

“Welfare reform, the implementation of the Spare Room Subsidy or bedroom tax as it’s more often called is now hitting home.

“We live in an area where there is a lack of employment opportunities and the cost of living is spiralling ever higher.

“Also the summer holidays has a negative effect on some families who have children who take free school meals.”

Sandra added that policing of benefits has become so tight that individuals are having them taken away when a common sense approach would suggest leniency.

Sandra added: “It’s not fashionable to say this at the moment, but people on benefits are having them stopped for things like turning up 30 minutes late to sign on or to be seen by a job adviser, taking no account of travelling time.

“We’re not just getting people on benefits coming to the foodbank, many people who work are being caught in a vicious circle and find that cannot afford to buy food.Energy prices are going up, the cost of living is going up and wages are not keeping track. So people are forced to make a choice, food or electricity.

“If these trends continue, it’s going to be a very bleak winter indeed for many people.”

Last week, Albert Owen MP, visited both Pantri Pobl and Anglesey Foodbank as they collected items at both Tesco and Morrisons foodstore in Holyhead Mr Owen MP, said: “It’s quite a humbling experience to be with them and people were very generous.

“People are starting to understand that this is a wider issue in society.”

The Trussell trust have called for an inquiry as over 350,000 people received three days’ emergency food from their foodbanks between April and September 2013, triple the numbers helped in the same period last year. The Trussell Trust says that UK hunger is getting worse and the charity is calling for an inquiry into the causes of UK food poverty and the consequent surge in foodbank usage.

Chris Mould, executive chairman of The Trussell Trust said: “We said in April that the increasing numbers of people turning to foodbanks should be a wake-up call to the nation, but there has been no policy response and the situation is getting worse. The level of food poverty in the UK is not acceptable. It’s scandalous and it is causing deep distress to thousands of people. The time has come for an official and in depth inquiry into the causes of food poverty and the consequent rise in the usage of foodbanks.”